#ibikeCLT Campaign Takes a Big Step Forward!

Posted by Sustain Charlotte9sc on July 27, 2016

Thanks to tremendous community support, our city took a major step this week towards making our streets safer for all!

At Monday’s City Council meeting, over 50 local residents – many of them with bike helmets and signs in hand – stood with us as we asked City Council to support our #ibikeCLT campaign for a protected bike lane through Uptown, connecting the Little Sugar Creek and Irwin Creek greenways.

Our Bicycle Director, Jordan Moore, provided each Council Member a copy of our petition – signed so far by over 3,000 residents – and explained why protected bike lanes are a critical investment in our city’s future. Click here to read Jordan’s remarks. Here’s an excerpt:

"Tonight you have the opportunity to do something much greater than build a bike lane. Tonight you can steer our city in the direction of equality. So many of our residents who live under the weight of being disadvantaged live in neighborhoods that this would benefit...

Safe places for people to use their bicycles means a positive turn for social and economic mobility...

Tonight we speak for over 3,000 people in our community who have aligned their voices to ask you for this lane. [Because] the benefits are endless when we design for safety, beauty and equality..."

Because of such amazing community support, City Council took action!

Typically, the council does not respond to citizen requests during the Citizens’ Forum portion of their meetings. However, Mayor Roberts pointed out that she and the rest of Council received a large number of emails in support of our campaign and that it therefore deserved a brief response.

Council Member Kinsey expressed support and made a motion to refer this request to the Transportation and Planning Committee. Council Member Autry also requested that funds be allocated specifically for bicycle and pedestrian projects when the City drafts their budget for next year! Council Members Eiselt, and Lyles also expressed their support for our request.

Then, unanimously, they voted in favor of Kinsey’s motion. The Transportation and Planning Committee will discuss this further and make budget and implementation recommendations.We want to thank everyone who wrote City Council and came to the meeting to show their support! And special thanks to People for Bikes and our donors for their financial support that has helped make this work possible! We truly could not have done this without their support!